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He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list. Probably somewhat frustrating too when you get conflicting reports on a game. Some people make the mistake of forgetting to install dependencies (usually located within the game folder) before attempting to run the game and then assume that it's not DRM free when the game doesn't load.

For example, Dungeon Siege 1 is listed as not being DRM free on this list. However, the game is completely DRM free. I recently did a format of one of my spare computers and decided to double check my entire collection of Steam games on that PC (I had them backed up) after the format prior to installing Steam, so I have a nice list of my games that definitely work and those that definitely don't.

I wish there was a way to take over this list (thread) rather than creating a new one if bazilisek has indeed given up on it.

Qwertyman: He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list. Probably somewhat frustrating too when you get conflicting reports on a game. Some people make the mistake of forgetting to install dependencies (usually located within the game folder) before attempting to run the game and then assume that it's not DRM free when the game doesn't load.

For example, Dungeon Siege 1 is listed as not being DRM free on this list. However, the game is completely DRM free. I recently did a format of one of my spare computers and decided to double check my entire collection of Steam games on that PC (I had them backed up) after the format prior to installing Steam, so I have a nice list of my games that definitely work and those that definitely don't.

I wish there was a way to take over this list (thread) rather than creating a new one if bazilisek has indeed given up on it.

By "dependencies," are you talking about stuff like DirectX and runtimes, and stuff like that?

Qwertyman: He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list. Probably somewhat frustrating too when you get conflicting reports on a game. Some people make the mistake of forgetting to install dependencies (usually located within the game folder) before attempting to run the game and then assume that it's not DRM free when the game doesn't load.

For example, Dungeon Siege 1 is listed as not being DRM free on this list. However, the game is completely DRM free. I recently did a format of one of my spare computers and decided to double check my entire collection of Steam games on that PC (I had them backed up) after the format prior to installing Steam, so I have a nice list of my games that definitely work and those that definitely don't.

I wish there was a way to take over this list (thread) rather than creating a new one if bazilisek has indeed given up on it.

pedrovay2003: By "dependencies," are you talking about stuff like DirectX and runtimes, and stuff like that?

Yeah. Some games have dependencies that you wouldn't have thought of, though. Random things that I hadn't even heard of until I was trying to find out why a game was crashing even though it was supposed to be DRM free. I think almost if not every time any dependencies that a game requires are located in the game folder somewhere. I don't have my external drives connected atm otherwise I'd give you some examples of the weird ones, but I'll post some next time I have them connected.

Has anyone tried this with Ages of Empire III Complete Collection?. Someone told me this would launch without Steam running.I moved the steam files from the root folder, launched the exe in the bin folder and lo and behold, Ages of Empire III launches.........

Qwertyman: He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list.

Frankly, I don't think the original intention of the OP was to keep updating the list forever, as in offering an up-to-date service for people who care about DRM (also in their Steam games).

After all, the OP, and certain someones who were at first active in the thread, are known to say they don't care about DRM. Why would one then keep up a list of DRM-free games, if one does not care about DRM?

I think the original point of this thread was just to argumentatively show that there are also DRM-free games on Steam, as in "See? GOG has nothing over Steam!".

So in that sense, it would be helpful if someone who cares about DRM-free gaming could take over the thread, but unfortunately that's not possible. But some such person could indeed start a new thread with all this data, and keep it up because the subject interests him/her.

All I can conclude from this thread so far is that yes there are games in Steam that can unofficially be run without the client/DRM, but all in all it is all quite messy.

Qwertyman: He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list.

timppu: Frankly, I don't think the original intention of the OP was to keep updating the list forever, as in offering an up-to-date service for people who care about DRM (also in their Steam games).

After all, the OP, and certain someones who were at first active in the thread, are known to say they don't care about DRM. Why would one then keep up a list of DRM-free games, if one does not care about DRM?

I think the original point of this thread was just to argumentatively show that there are also DRM-free games on Steam, as in "See? GOG has nothing over Steam!".

So in that sense, it would be helpful if someone who cares about DRM-free gaming could take over the thread, but unfortunately that's not possible. But some such person could indeed start a new thread with all this data, and keep it up because the subject interests him/her.

All I can conclude from this thread so far is that yes there are games in Steam that can unofficially be run without the client/DRM, but all in all it is all quite messy.

Hmm, I didn't get that impression about this thread at all. To me it just seemed like a thread that was intended to be helpful for people who were interested in DRM free games but happened to also use Steam, so that they could use the games listed in this thread outside of Steam if they chose to do so.

I would also disagree that it's messy, since most of the DRM free games listed in this thread work by simply making a backup of the game folder and nothing more, which is easier than a normal game installation. Some of the games require a few dependencies to be installed, which is normally taken care of when Steam runs the game for the first time. A handful of the games on Steam can be DRM free by applying retail patches, which does require a bit more work but is still quite trivial. However, if a person doesn't care much in the first place about whether their games on Steam are DRM or not, then this all may feel like it's more work than it's worth. But to those of us who do, it means that we save money by not having to repurchase our games elsewhere to get DRM free copies, so the trouble is worth it in that sense.

But yeah I may end up making my own thread at some point with updated information. It needs to be updated every so often as people test out games that nobody else has tested yet, and as new games are added into Steam. I haven't decided yet if I feel like doing it heh.

Qwertyman: He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list. Probably somewhat frustrating too when you get conflicting reports on a game. Some people make the mistake of forgetting to install dependencies (usually located within the game folder) before attempting to run the game and then assume that it's not DRM free when the game doesn't load.

For example, Dungeon Siege 1 is listed as not being DRM free on this list. However, the game is completely DRM free. I recently did a format of one of my spare computers and decided to double check my entire collection of Steam games on that PC (I had them backed up) after the format prior to installing Steam, so I have a nice list of my games that definitely work and those that definitely don't.

DS1 is not sold separately, but only as part of a collection. Do you mean the DS1 part of the collection is DRM free, but not the other DS games?

Qwertyman: He hasn't updated the list since November =/ I don't blame him though -- it's work to keep updating the list. Probably somewhat frustrating too when you get conflicting reports on a game. Some people make the mistake of forgetting to install dependencies (usually located within the game folder) before attempting to run the game and then assume that it's not DRM free when the game doesn't load.

For example, Dungeon Siege 1 is listed as not being DRM free on this list. However, the game is completely DRM free. I recently did a format of one of my spare computers and decided to double check my entire collection of Steam games on that PC (I had them backed up) after the format prior to installing Steam, so I have a nice list of my games that definitely work and those that definitely don't.

PetrusOctavianus: DS1 is not sold separately, but only as part of a collection. Do you mean the DS1 part of the collection is DRM free, but not the other DS games?

I can't speak for The Dig or Loom, but the Steam versions of Last Crusade and Atlantis have files that have been incorporated into the executable by Steam. Unless you know something I don't, you'd have to extract those files, which I believe are ATLANTIS.00 and 00.LFL. Once you get those files out though, you do have the complete game which can be run in Dosbox or ScummVM.

I haven't picked it up yet. If you do decide to get it, one of the ways you can make some older games DRM free is by applying retail patches over the Steam installation. If the patch gives you an error about the game not being installed, then you can use something like Universal Extractor to try and extract the contents of the setup file, and then just pick out the exe file from the extracted contents and replace Steam's with that one.

Sacred 2 does indeed appear to have a patch that removed the DRM from the retail version of the game, so if you pick it up on Steam you can try the method I mentioned above and you should have a DRM copy of Sacred 2.